Mountain Song: Open SYOT
by Hiccstrid
Summary: Tunnels, caves, lions and snakes. Bloodlust, kids with weapons, kids with trackers in their arms. A shrinking arena. A crumbling mountain. What could be more fun? *SYOT currently open* (Mostly based on knowledge from the movies, but not limited to.)
1. Prologue

There's a noise like a ticking and I don't need to look around to know that everyone is staring as bright yellow numbers count down.

_Fifty_

_Forty-nine_

_Forty-eight..._

I do look around though, I need to know the area, I need to know my playing field. It's bright, that's not hard to tell. There's rock under us, rock beside us, rock everywhere. There's no hidden traps because there was no place to hide them. All there is is an endless expanse of dirty yellow rock, jutting upwards and suddenly dropping down, crevices and cracks are my only real enemy besides another twenty-three kids who want to kill me.

_Thirty-five_

_Thirty-four_

_Thirty-three_

_Thirty-two…_

Mountains. Nothing but mountains. Bare, rocky mountains - I can't see any green patches, no streams of water. How do they expect us to live more than a few days if they weren't going to give us food and water?

_Twenty-seven_

_Twenty-six…_

While the ticking noise drowns in everyone's ears, I notice kids begin to look around frantically. They need to know where to go, what to do, where their allies are. I know that there are kids who won't go to the Cornucopia and if I were them, I wouldn't either. Not with how this thing is set up.

_Twenty_

_Nineteen_

_Eighteen…_

There's a sharp incline in the rock. Stupid, needless things lay at the bottom - ropes, backpacks, maybe water bottles. I know the Careers will do everything they can to take those anyway but it's clearly the least desirable. I can't see what sits at the top, but I know it must be something worth wanting. I have to climb. Anyone who wants what's up there has to climb. Anyone who wants what's up there will no doubt be pushed to a bloody gruesome death with their skull smashed against rock and their brain splattered on the floor.

_Five_

_Four_

_Three_

_Two_

_One..._

It hits and for a moment it's like the world has stopped. Everything slows down, and there is nothing but adrenaline pumping in my blood and my heart pounding in my ears. In an instant, that is gone.

_Zero._

And I run.

* * *

**AN: Hello, my name is Lexie! It may look a bit suspicious that I have no stories written here whatsoever and yet I'm writing an SYOT but fear not, it's just that this is a NEW account and therefore, no documented stories. This story will focus moreso on the reapings and the actual game as opposed to the time in between, though there may be reference to it, and so a few questions will be asked about that. The form for your tribute is on my Profile, please PM me all submissions. Most of the chapters will not be written as this one was and they will definitely be LONGER.**

**Thank you.**

**~ Lexie**


	2. Chapter 1

_**Velvet Labelle**_

It was finally the day.

That was my first thought when I shot out of bed, golden blonde curls flying everywhere as I did. I wasted no time in flying off my mattress, my running over the floor and throwing open my doors clearly making enough of a racket for my brother to feel the need to bang something against the ceiling below me.

"Keep it down!"

I smirked and stomped down on the floor a few times just to upset him. Unable to wipe the grin from my face, I went to the mirror and forced a brush through my hair. Despite how horrible and tangled it got overnight, I always managed to get it looking nice. I always had to look nice, my mother taught me that - if you looked nice, people liked you.

And when you were going into something like this, people liking you was something you needed.

Green eyes stared back at me while I tied my hair back in a ribbon and practiced my smile. Once the curls were tamed and held back, I padded over to my closet. Everything felt so much better today. The carpet against my feet, the sunshine flooding in, and especially the memories of all my years of training. Training for the day that had finally arrived. The day when I was going to volunteer for the Hunger Games.

Once I'd changed out of my pajamas into my dress, tight fabric gripping my neck like vices and shoes bringing a terrible pinching to my ankles and heels, I smiled into the mirror. Anything to look pretty, anything to be liked. Only by the people who mattered of course - sponsors, the President, the people of my District.

I could care less about the dirt poor dust rags in District 8, it was my District that I needed to represent, and it was the Capitol I needed to look good for. Not some kids I was going to kill anyway. My brother, Pearl, was already downstairs, dressed in his nice, reaping outfit. Mom still dressed him for it so he sort of looked like a monkey stuffed into a suit - well, more so than usual.

I met him at the bottom of the stairs, grinning at the younger blond and giving him a small shove before I linked arms with him.

"Milady," he greeted mockingly and I forced back a smile to look stern.

"Ah, hello, sir."

There was a stupid sort of snort that came from the both of us as we headed out the front door and towards the center of town so that some other kid's name could be pulled just for me to take their place, my soon-to-be district partner no doubt coming under the same circumstances.

"So… you're doing it this year?" he asked after a long few minutes of unending silence, though it hadn't been awkward. It was a comfortable, sibling sort of silence that I didn't mind in the least.

"Yeah. And you're still doin' it when you get to be my age?" Of course he would. I'd been training him since he could walk just like Dad did with me. Needless to mention the Academy as well.

"Yeah…" Though we'd said the same words, his sounded less sure than my own, less confident. He sounded scared almost, but Labelle's didn't get scared. We were a strong family, made up of winners and never-give-uppers and win-or-die-trying people.

A smile came to my lips, pushing his head playfully. "Don't chicken out on me now."

He mirrored the smile, but it was clearly forced. Much like how he'd said his words. Sometimes Pearl just seemed like a mirror, doing what the other did, but you could see that he wasn't feeling the same. He didn't want to disappoint people, I knew that. But you couldn't just live your life as a worthless piece of nothing when you could be a victor.

"Nah, I'm just… are you sure you should go?" Fear sounded in his voice - not for him, I realized. But for me. How insulting. "I know you can do it and all I just don't want you to go and not come back. I really don't.. I sound like a bitch but.. You're my sister and I'd miss you."

He may have been questioning my ability to win but at least he wasn't calling me weak. He just didn't want to end up without a big sister. A soft smile tugged at the corner of my lips and my hand slipped down to enclose my brother's, thumb running over the back of his hand. "I'm going to come back. I'm not a loser. I can do it. Just you watch," I insisted, leaning over to kiss him on the forehead.

For a second, there's a moment of tender silence before he slips his hand away to wipe away the red lipstick mark I'd left on his skin.

_**Luminous Galore**_

Our escort was a small woman who I was pretty sure I could break in half without even trying. She had long, golden hair - not blonde, literally golden, shimmering in the sunlight - the palest skin I'd ever seen and an atrocity of what was probably meant to be makeup on her face. She looks like she can't even move in her little dress, and nearly tripped over her heels twice just coming onstage.

She had just barely caught herself by grabbing onto the microphone, a loud high-pitched screech entering all out ears. The woman didn't sound much better.

"Hello," she greeted, clearly embarrassed by all the mistakes she'd already made. Obviously new at her job. Not to mention, terrible at it. When she was met with nothing but silence, she cleared her throat and forced on a smile again. "And welcome to the fourteenth annual Hunger Games!"

There wasn't any full-blown applauding or whistles. However, there were people clapping - myself one of them - and smiling, and that was how you picked out who was going to try and volunteer. It was mostly the older kids, my age, as it was every year. Little twelve year olds didn't have enough training yet to want to go into the games.

The escort seemed to have been encouraged by the response because her smile looks more genuine and there was more light in her eyes. "Now, before we begin, let's watch this short film I've brought you all." We'd all seen it a hundred times, or that's what it felt like. If we tried, we could all probably talk along with the voice droning in our ears about the uprising we all knew about fully well.

It went on forever until finally, "This is how we safeguard our future" and it was over. Now we could finally get to the part that anyone actually cared about.

"Now, what we've all been waiting for…" At least she recognized we were all tired of standing around in the sun. I wanted to get in the games. "I will select two brave young tributes to participate in this year's Hunger Games."

I couldn't help but snort. Like she was going to really be choosing, she probably wouldn't even finish reading the name before someone stepped up.

Nevertheless, she stumbled on over to one of the bowls, unceremoniously diving her hand inside and picking out a card. I could feel the tension of the girl's who were waiting for the name of whoever was reaped to slip through the escort's lips so that they could jump forward and take place. With bated breath on one half of the mass of the people, a completely oblivious seeming woman on stage went back to the microphone and opened the slip of paper to read off the name.

Her mouth may have been forming a 'C,' perhaps an S. But it didn't matter because as soon as her mouth opened and she took in a breath, some girl with long blond curls shot her hand up.

"I volunteer!" she shouted, and it looked as if every other girl around her turned to glare._ That was no fair_, I could practically hear their whiny voices now. _She didn't even get the name out, she shouldn't be allowed to do that._

Apparently it didn't matter much to that girl though - I knew her face from the Training Academy, her name was completely lost to me - because she held her head high and strode up to the stage as if she were the greatest thing in the world. Our escort, meanwhile, looked completely dumbfounded, however she still went ahead and put the slip back, managing to make her way back to the girl on stage. "And… well, alright. What's your name, dear?"

She stepped directly in front of the microphone, the light in her eyes not dimming once despite the few snickers she was getting from her boldness. "My name is Velvet Labelle," she introduced. "Seventeen years old, and soon-to-be District One victor."

At least my district partner was good looking.

Miss I-Can't-Walk-In-Heels looked like she was holding back a giggle herself. "Well then, Velvet," she began, clearly uncomfortable as she put a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "I do believe with that… attitude, you can do just about anything." I was damn sure it was meant to be sarcastic but Velvet sure took it as a compliment, smiling out into the crowd. "May we get a hand for Miss Velvet here?"

We did, everyone in the crowd clapped, some kid I was sure was her brother was whooping for her, and her parents were ecstatic. I didn't even need to question if they were her parents, they had the same overzealous attitude and were far too excited to be anyone else's. I crossed an arm across my chest, running the other hand through my hair before bringing it down to join the other. "And now, our male tribute."

At this point, she looked like she knew what to expect. Heels clacking noisily against the polished stage and her skinny legs looking like they were going to break with every step, she traveled to the other bowl, plucked out a piece of paper and came back to the microphone where Velvet was still acting like she was in some sort of pageant.

She opened the slip, opening her mouth and pausing, shut it again and glancing around at us expectantly. That earned a laugh out of me and a few others around me, making her smile along with us, appearing more soothed. She looked down at the slip, and at least I had the courtesy to wait for her to read off of it.

"Jasper Lion."

Soon as the last syllable had left her mouth, I stepped out from my group of boys - I'd stood near the edge for a reason. "I volunteer." Smirking a little to myself, I made my way up to the stage, much more casually than 'Miss Velvet' had.

Much more comfortable now, the escort set her long, golden fingernails on my back and smiled. "And what's your name?" she asked, stepping aside to let me speak into the microphone. I spared a glance at Velvet and damn was it pleasing to see how offended she looked by how much friendlier I was being treated.

"Luminous Galore." As if everyone didn't already know me. And that wasn't just a cocky statement, I knew just about everybody - maybe not by name, but if they were in the District, I probably knew them.

"What a name." I stepped away from the microphone, giving Goldie access to it again. "Now, let's have a big round of applause for our two tributes for the fourteenth annual Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favour."

As everyone clapped and cheered for us, I turned to shake the other teenager's hand, a competitive smirk slipping onto her red lips that I mirrored back to her without a second thought.

_**Ophelia Isla**_

There was a time when I was like all the other Careers. When I liked the games, liked the District, liked the Capitol. There was a time when the Reapings, if they could even be called that when all we ever had were volunteers, were a time of celebrating and dreams of the next year coming along, the year when I might finally volunteer.

However, as I stood there in the center of a bunch of girls my age, all I felt was anger. Anger and resentment, hate and determination. I would still volunteer, no doubt. But not for the same reasons, not anymore. I wasn't going for glory or money anymore, like I had dreamed of for so many years. I was going for vengeance.

Impatiently, my arms crossed and uncrossed, fists clenched and unclenched as I stared at the woman on stage. Already, people are practically climbing over each other, begging to be the first to volunteer. Everyone wants to bring pride to their District, I just want to make my parents happy, bless their souls.

It's a plump, stout woman who stands on stage. She had been in our District the year before, and several years before that. She'd gained weight - however, at least she'd learned to dress herself better. A white dress was blinding everyone in the ground with the sheer brightness of the color, and how it stood out against her tanned skin. Considering how many years she'd been with us, she'd no doubt figured out how it worked around here. Why bother asking for anyone but volunteers?

"Now, before I go picking any names out." Lazy woman, couldn't even bothered to go to the bowl and pick out a name. "Would any young ladies like to volunteer?" She chuckled as if it was meant to be a joke, but there are girls who raise their hands into the air as if they had to catch a fly mid-flight in order to be chosen. I wasn't going to allow myself to be unnoticed though. I only had a few years left to volunteer, and I wanted it done when my anger and resentment was still strong and pungent. It would just give me a stronger chance of winning, really. All that anger and violence and rage building up inside of me.

So I was the only one who actually pushed my way out of the crowd of girls, running closer to the stage just to be sure that I wouldn't be passed over. I pushed my way through the seventeen year olds and the eighteen year olds, putting myself in front of Briar Stonewool, our escort. "I volunteer." I began stepping up the stairs, hands gripping onto the railings by my sides. "I volunteer," I repeated, more to myself than anyone.

I did it. I finally did it, I was going into the Games. And in all likelihood, I may be coming out.

Her smile never faultered. The woman came over to me, taking me by the hand and leading me to the microphone as I stared out at the faces that began to blur. I did this, I trained for this, I was ready for this. I didn't feel ready. It was probably just how overwhelming the situation was, all the emotions rushing at once. My eyes landed on a Peacekeeper and any other emotion turned to anger, my soft, confused looking face turning to a sharp glare.

"Now, what's your name, dearie?"

For a second, I only have the crashing rage in my ears and I don't know what she'd just said but after a moment, I process it and tell my name to her, not once letting my eyes fall away from the Peacekeeper.

"Ophelia." For a moment that was all I said, but then I remembered that there was another part to my name and that might have been sort of important. I forced myself to look away, shaking my head a bit. "Isla," I added on suddenly. A collective chuckle came from the crowd and it made me want to rip someone's eyes out. So I was feeling a little nervous, they shouldn't have been laughing at me.

"...Ophelia Isla."

They wouldn't forget me.

_**Coltan Tantalum**_

"Ophelia Isla," Briar repeated, as if just to get it right. There was another small chuckle from the crowd, and I wasn't entirely surprised though Ophelia seemed pretty upset by it. The Reapings were usually a day full of good spirit from our District. I didn't know about the others, of course, but our own seemed pretty happy about it and I don't see why any other's wouldn't.

We were all going into the same deathmatch and, sure, some of us had training but we were all going into the same thing, why would another District be upset by it? Besides, we all owed it to Panem to send in tributes, whether it was a good day sending them in or not. We owed them.

Next was going to be the boys, and we'd all pretty much agreed that I would volunteer. The boys were going to put aside their hopes and dreams of competing for me to enter. An acquaintance of mine from the Academy gave me a pat on the shoulder as our escort came back to the microphone, pleasant smile never leaving her lips.

"Boys?" she prompted, looking to us. The oldest, the strongest, the wisest. There were always a couple of guys who decided they deserved to go above me, but I was still the first the raise my hand and make my way through the group of boys around me.

"I volunteer as tribute," I announced, a smile on my face. I wanted to show off just how proud I was to be in the Games, to prove that I was worthy of getting another honorable victory for my District. I trained long and hard for this, I could do it. I didn't second guess myself for even a second as I made my way onto the stage, Ophelia on the opposite side of me.

"And your name is?"

"Coltan Tantalum." Short and sweet. I wouldn't be _that guy_ who went on and on about giving District 2 yet another victor, thought I was hellbent on doing just that.

All they really needed to know was my name though.

And I was sure that they wouldn't forget it.

* * *

**AN: So there's the first chapter, introducing your first 4 tributes. (Coltan has a pretty short part whOOPS). I still need two D3 tributes and the D4 males before the next chapter, but I'm sure that they'll come in. The overall idea of the story has changed really, and all the Chariots, Interviews, Training, etc will all take place within the story, so if you do get accepted, expect to be asked a few more things about your character.  
Things might seem a little slow and expository-esque but hopefully that will only be the first few chapters, thank you!**

~Lexie


	3. Chapter 2

**I am actual trash but okay here I am again and here's the second chapter. Clearly my update schedule didn't work out too well but I was waiting for someone to send my a certain tribute. They haven't. So I'm saying fuck it. Also, we're starting with the D4 male today instead of D3 female. Why? Because I just want to do this morning beach scene okay please bear with me. It'll go D4 male, D4 female, D3 male, D3 female, so its just backwards basically.**

**Also, to the creator of Safin, I did change the circumstances and events of his reaping a bit, I hope you don't mind!**

**Anyway, here you go!**

* * *

**_Safin Bayview_**

"I heard there's a new Escort this year."

_Of course you did. _I rolled my eyes at my friend, Lennox, a smile coming along with the action. He always knew what was happening around our District, whether it was a private family matter that slipped out or the biggest news, Lennox always knew what it was. "Yeah? How'd you hear that?"

He gave me the same answer he always did.

"I have my sources."

The both of us gave one another a long, comically serious look, his chocolate eyes burning into my own green ones, until the both of us were laughing over absolutely nothing. Soon as we were done being the complete idiots that we were, I ran a hand back through my still-damp hair and looked out at the beach laid before us. All I could think to myself was, _This is the last year._

So long as everything went right, so long as I wasn't called up on that stage, the beach would be my home forever. I would get a job, become an adult, live a normal life. I may get married or have children. This would be the last year that I could be taken for the Games, and then I'd be able to stay with my family forever. And really, if I'd gone the last six years without my name so much as being pulled, what was the likelihood that it would happen at eighteen years old?

I was only pulled out of my thoughts when some goddess approached me, shaking my shoulder and repeating my name. Then I realized that it wasn't a goddess sent from Heaven, itself, but it was Nakita and I was still on the beach and I was with my friends, not lounging about with the Gods on Mount Olympus. I may as well have been, though. The fantasies that played out in my head of my life were as close to heaven as one could really get in Panem, besides winning the Games and living a life of luxury, that was.

"C'mon, Safin, we gotta _go,_" she insisted, standing from her kneeling position in front of me, leaving me with only the view of her tanned legs before she walked away to put on her dress for the Reapings, hung over a tree nearby. Nakita's older brother, William, came shortly after her, clapping his dripping wet hand on my shoulder.

"Get movin', Bayview."

Looking to my left, I saw that Lennox had already left me, and upon turning around fully, I spotted him walking with Nakita. _Had I really been that deep in thought? _Jeez. I hopped up nevertheless, stumbling a little in the sand, and going to stand next to my best friend, Theo.

"You volunteering this year?" I asked him as I grabbed a towel from the tree branch where all of our belongings were currently hanging, and used it to shake the remaining water from my hair. Didn't want my clothes to get all wet, of course.

"Nah. I'm gonna give it one more year. Just a little more training. _You_ volunteering this year?"

At first, I shrugged, to preoccupied with getting into my pants without ruining them to pay attention to what he said, but after a moment, I shook my head entirely. "Hell no. I've got to stay here. For... for Miya." Miya, my big sister of twenty-three years old, was pregnant at the time. I wasn't about to tell Theo that I was scared to go into the games, so wanting to see my first niece or nephew was a good reason to want to stay home. Of course I _did_ want to see Miya's kid, it was a_ true_ reason for wanting stay home, but it wasn't my biggest problem with going in.

"Whatever you say, man." He shrugged and pulled on his shirt all in one movement, and it was as if we all finished at the same time because we were moving towards the center of town where the districts would be held. Hell knew why Reapings were held so early in the morning. I was one who usually woke up early - if I slept at all - but I didn't like having to get up knowing that I actually had to _do things_ during the day.

As we walked, myself squished between Theo and William, Nakita on the other side of William and Lennox on the other side of Theo - I couldn't help but give one last glance back towards the beach, and give one last little prayer that things _would work out this year._

**_Ripple Seagrace_**

There was a new Escort.

She was no doubt the youngest we'd ever had, hardly looking a day over twenty. She was pretty enough but she had to have one of the worst dye-jobs and most horrid spray tans I'd ever seen in my life - and when it came to Escorts, I'd seen a _lot _of bad dye jobs and spray tans in my fifteen years of life. She had sea shells laced into her splotchy blue hair with strings of beads, the largest seastar earrings I'd ever seen in my life, and a long, blue dress that ended in something replicating the foam of the waves.

But no, she didn't look_ terrible._

"Hello, District Four!" Her voice was nice, if nothing else. She seemed happy to be there. Her bright smile lit up the town center, hands going to hold onto the microphone and I was almost worried that orange was going to come off onto the thing. That'd be embarrassing for her, but I couldn't say that I wouldn't laugh. "My name is Terra Trapp, and I am _so _happy to be your Escort this year in the fourteenth annual Hunger Games!" As she droned on for a few minutes about things I'd heard a million times before, and began to play that old film, I looked around for my Mom and Dad.

Eventually, I spotted them. Mom was chatting away quietly with one of the other mother's, both of their eyes set unmoving on the screen, my own's hand set on her chest. They were probably talking about how wonderful this film was. I knew that I never got tired of it. It just wasn't necessary for me to listen anymore, I knew it by heart. When I saw Dad, his eyes were already on me, and when we locked eyes, I was given a smile and a thumbs up. My parents were the best.

A smile crept onto my face as well and I gave him a small wave in return before bringing all my focus back to the screen, just as it was ending.

"Just lovely," Terra sighed into the microphone when it was over, letting off a moment of silence as if she were taking in just how great the film was - though she'd probably seen it a hundred times before as well. "Anywho! Let's get to what you're all _really_ excited about, yes?" She giggled into the microphone, let go of it - it wasn't covered in orange die, by the way - and moved towards the bowl with short, quick steps. Her long fingers hesitated above the bowl dauntingly before it dipped deep inside and plucked out a slip.

It didn't matter what that name was.

Because I was going into the games. No matter what.

Upon returning from the bowl, she cleared her throat and looked over the piece of paper as if she couldn't figure out exactly how to pronounce whatever was on it. I couldn't help but snicker at her apparent confusion, as did a few people around me.

"L-Lee.. uh.. Leeuhcothea? Leeuhcothea Rae."

We were too busy trying not to laugh to even think of volunteering.

"It's pronounced _Loo_-cothea," I shouted up to her. An embarrassed blush barely made it through her orange cheeks, her mouth barely opened to stutter out an apology and correct herself before my hand was in the air and I was calling out again. "I volunteer." Even if I _hadn't_ been planning on volunteering, thirteen year old Leucothea Rae couldn't handle herself in the Games. _Someone_ would have volunteered. That idea was only reinforced by the disappointed disappointed sighs around me as I made my way past all the groups of older kids.

Some may have thought that I was too_ young _to be volunteering, that I wouldn't be able to do any better than Leucothea would have but they would horribly mistaken. I'd been training since the day I was born, or somewhere around that time. I could win and it wouldn't even be difficult.

"Ah, hello, darling," Terra greeted me once I was on the stage, still clearly embarrassed about my correcting her only minutes before. She handled herself well, though. She was rather good for a new Escort. "And what's your name?"

She took one of her small steps to the side to give me room in front of the microphone.

"Ripple. Ripple Seagrace." My eyes caught on my parent's once again, who couldn't have looked happier. They should have looked happy, of course. They were the ones who had been preparing me for this all my life, especially my father. Speaking of Dad, he gave me a big thumbs up to show me just how proud he was of my volunteering.

"Well _thank you_ for volunteering, Ripple. Let's have a big round of applause for Ripple Seagrace, yeah?" She gave off her bright, white-toothed smile as her hands went together into small claps, the tops of her fingers hitting her palms in the most noiseless clap I'd ever heard. However, the lack of noise she made was supplemented by the claps of my peers standing on the stone below me. "Now!" Her voice wasn't as pleasant up close; it was loud and _too _cheery but I'd made the decision to get up on stage, after all. "Boys."

I stepped forward so that she could do her uncomfortable waddle-walk to the bowl on the other side of the stage, her hand near-immediately going into the bowl as opposed to the taunting she had done with the girls'. She came back a second later and I sort of leaned over her shoulder to read the name before she had said it. I had no idea who the name belonged to, but I scanned the crowd as if I would be able to a face to a name I didn't know.

She took a big breath before calling out the name on the slip.

_Safin Bayview._

There was a silence that swept over the town square that didn't make sense to me. Were the girls really the only ones who wanted to volunteer this year? A group of boys at the very front turn towards a singular boy in the center, and it was easy enough to identify who Safin was. He looked shocked, scared; all the things that I would expect to see in a reaped kid form District 12. But a trained eighteen year old from Four? No way. The silence was still jarring to me, but the look on his face was even stranger. All in an instant, that look was gone, and it was replaced with one of neutrality.

As he began to walk up - albeit, slowly, a sign that he _must_ have still been feeling what his face displayed earlier - a smile slipped onto his face, but all at once, there was someone running out, towards him. "No, I volunteer!"

Safin looked relieved for just a second, but that look fell when he saw who it was that was volunteering for him. He hurried over to the other boy, a seventeen year old, taking hold of his shoulder and shaking his head.

"No. Theo, no." The two of them faced like this for a minute. I only caught pieces of what they said - a lot of Safin's was "No. No, stop. No." And the volunteer - Theo? - kept saying things about his family, some girl named Miya. I didn't know, nor did I care, I just kind of wanted them to get along with it. Either way, one of them was going to be my district partner. Either way one of them was going to end up dead. Either way, I was going to be the one coming back to my home on the beach. So it didn't really matter which one of them accompanied me.

Eventually, the Peacekeepers were coming to them, so Safin turned away from who I could only assume was a good friend of his and hurried onto the stage beside Terra. I eyed him strangely, and there was an uncomfortable silence that settled over the crowd. He still smiled, but it was shaky, and his eyes were locked on Theo, who was being pushed back into place with the other seventeen year old boys.

"Well... that was.. _quite_ a show, wasn't it?" _I'm sure it was _wonderful _entertainment for the Capitol_ were words that I was sure lingered in the back of her head. "What's your name, sweetie?" She was really one for pet names, wasn't she?

He swallowed thickly and I watched his Adam's apple bob before he stooped down to level with the microphone. "Safin Bayview."

"And that was your friend down there, wasn't it?"

"...Yeah."

"Well!" All at once, she took her place at the microphone, her face growing into a smile that made it seem as if absolutely nothing had happened. "Let's have one more big round of applause for our two _wonderful_ tributes this year! Ripple Seagrace, and Safin Bayview!"

Some of the clapping sounded uncomfortable and forced, while others sounded enthusiastic as hell. I spared a glance towards Theo in the crowd, and he wasn't clapping whatsoever but I wasn't expecting anything too different. I turned on my heel and stuck my hand out to Safin. He looked out at the crowd for a moment and then looked to me, a smirk sliding onto his lips as he shook my hand.

**_Flynn Derezze_**

Every night before the Reapings, my two older sisters would fuss over me. Before, it had always been filled with harmless jokes and teasings - most often about how different I looked from most of the District Three boys. Blond hair, blue eyes, much taller, but I was just as skinny and pale as any of the others, that counted for something, right? However, the past two years with them had been different.

On the year of my twelfth reaping, they had been somber. The had stroked my hair, kissed my forehead. I knew what it was for. I knew that I was eligible to be chosen to go to my death. And I knew fully well that if I were reaped I _would_ be going to my death. Now, my thirteenth year, they were still worried, but much more laid back than the year before. Obviously, I hadn't been picked for my inevitable demise, and so they were more confident that I wouldn't be at age thirteen either. So was I.

Every morning before the Reapings, I would go to my neighbor Joel's house. Joel was an old, old man who talked to me. Just talked. Every morning, we would sit in the cold District Three air, watching out breath as he talked nonsense to me. I never quite understood what he was saying, but I knew that he was smart and kind and wise. He knew what he was talking about even if I didn't.

"Are you afraid, Flynn?" he asked me, him in the rocking chair of his porch, and myself sitting on the wooden floor, picking at the splintered wood like an idiot. I'd probably die of infection quicker than anything else were I to go into the games.

"Hm?" I looked up from my very serious business of giving myself a billion, or something close to that, splinters. After processing the words, I shrugged and looked back down. "About what?" I knew fully well what about, but that didn't mean that I wanted to talk about. I tried to avoid talking about the Hunger Games as much as I could. It was too scary a prospect for me. Facing the reality of being chosen for that massacre was the last thing I wanted to do.

He let out a laugh that was more a gust of air being pushed from his air at once than anything else. "You know what I'm talking about, Flynn." He used my name too much for my liking but I'd been taught to respect my elders; if he wanted to address me after every sentence, let him. Maybe it was just to make sure that I was still there, that he was still talking to me.

"...No."

"Are you sure?"

I didn't know why he would bother asking if he already knew the answer. I pouted a little, blowing some of the blond locks from my face and letting out a small huff of annoyance. I was never really annoyed with Joel. But I was a young teenager who was only good at pouting and being emotional. I couldn't even do the things that my district _bred_ me to do. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I got reaped, I was pretty useless to the district anyway.

"Maybe. I guess... I don't know."

"Think of it this way. If your sister... what's her name? Latsey. If Latsey was reaped, would you volunteer for her?"

I shrugged again, then remembered that I was speaking to near-blind seventy year old man who hardly ever looked at me to begin with. "I guess.."

"Then you can't be too scared. You're a brave lad, Flynn." Except I wasn't. Latsey was my sister, if it were anyone else being reaped, I would never step up. Besides, I _couldn't _even step up for Latsey because she was a girl and I was a boy. That's how it had always been, I had no idea why Joel would even ask something like that when he knew it was impossible.

"Just remember this: Be careful of the friends you choose. For you _will _become them."

That was one of the things he said that was easier to figure out. At the same time, I wasn't going to become my friends! I understood what he meant but it wasn't true, was the thing. If I even had any friends, or at least allies, in the games, I wouldn't act just like them. That was just stupid.

. . . .

My family was mostly quiet as we walked to the Reapings. My older twin sisters, Gemma and Vega, were on either side of me, my little sister Eddie holding hands with my mother, and Latsey trailing in the back on her own, arms crossed over her stomach. This was the last year she could be picked, and the second year I could. It was the best we'd ever been able to relate - the both of us had terrible nerves tugging on the insides of our stomachs, like a man with a rope, tugging and pulling endlessly inside of us, causing a nauseous feeling to settle inside of us.

We all departed with hugs before getting into lines, our fingers getting pricked. It still came as a small shock to me. It was only my second year and while it had been worse before, the sting on my finger still shocked me - unlike Latsey, who looked as if nothing had even happened to her. We all got into our individual sections, myself near the very back, opposite to my sister who was on the other side and in the very front.

I can see Gemma and Vega standing with all the other adults no longer eligible for the Games, and my mother, with Eddie sitting on her hip is standing with them. For a second, I thought that there was eye contact with Vega, and I gave a small wave.

Much to my disappointment, she didn't wave back.

**_Ciyna Qillon_**

There was a deafeningly loud silence in the square, as was always the way at the Reapings. It was only broken by the chipper voice of our Escort, Elissa Frost, who always managed to sound so happy on these days. Now, I was a happy girl too - very social and friendly - but even _I _found it inappropriate for her to be so excited and happy on the day of the Reaping, the day that a kid from District Three was going to be sent off to their death.

We'd only had one winner in all fourteen years of these Games. We weren't exactly expected to come out alive.

"Oh, how I've _missed _District Three!"

I was sure that if she were the Escort for any other district, she would have said the same thing. District Three was nice, it was my home, but it wasn't anything too special. It wasn't something that someone from the _Capitol _would actually_ miss. _So we all knew that Elissa was just gritting out lies in hopes of raising our spirits. Maybe they wanted us to act like District Two, with their three Victors; wanted us to jump and shout and cheer and volunteer. As if.

She was met with the same silence that she was every year, but she kept on smiling. We watched the video, let her talk about how happy she was to be in District Three another year, told us that we would _definitely _have another Victor this year. Lies. Every word was met with a smile that told us how she hated the smell that came with our District, hated standing in her miniskirt in the freezing morning. Her eyes shone with the phrase, _Two more District Three kids will die this year._

It's unsettling, how happy someone can be, only to be changed by a situation like that one. After a prolonged speech about our "lovely little district," she strutted confidently to the bowl that held the boy's names. Hm. So she was switching it up for once.

There wasn't a beat missed between when she got back to the microphone and when she spoke the name clearly into the microphone.

"Flynn Derezze."

There isn't a single sound.

For just a second, because I was so used to having the girl's name read out first, I thought that some boy's name being called meant that I was safe for another year. The familiarity of the situation fooled me into thinking, for a split second, that a girl had been chosen and that girl was _not _me. Relief washed over me and I was met with bliss for what seemed like an eternity until Peacekeepers were dragging a struggling boy onto the stage.

Right.

It was a boy.

All at once, the anxiety knotted up in my stomach again, making me want to throw up. I almost felt worse for the boy though. He looked so close to crying, his whole frame shaking on the stage, looking petrified out into the crowd. I could hear the crying of two, maybe more, girls amongst the people. Poor Flynn. Poor Flynn's family, who were no doubt the people crying.

There wasn't even a pause. There wasn't a hint of remorse or sympathy in Elissa's eyes, only that manipulative, cheery stare that burned into all of us, chanting _Be happy! Be happy! It's not like you're going to your deaths or anything!_

She patted the young man's shoulder encouragingly before walking to the other side of the stage, plucking a name from the very top of the pile of slips, and returning mere seconds later. She always took too long to get to the actual calling of the names, and once that point arrived, she rushed through it as if she had better places to be. She realized that she was going to have to be with these kids for the following days, right? She understood that she was going to determine whether or not the tributes would like her based on how much she "cared?"

Did she not understand that?

"Ciyna Qillon."

What...

"Is there a Ciyna Qillon out there?"

I hadn't even seen her open the paper! This had to be a joke.. No, it couldn't be me. It was a different Ciyna. Of course.

There were no other Ciyna's.

The girls around me, my _friends_, turned to face me, some of them looking sorry, some of them not looking at me at all. I froze, feeling just as helpless as the boy on stage. There was a pathway made for me by my friends. They were opening the gates to the afterlife, leaving me to die.

A shaking smile was forced to my lips, trying to cover up my desire to break down into tears as I made my way through the passageway, followed the clearing up to stage, signed my death certificate. I couldn't hear _my _family crying, but for the sake of my sanity, I assumed that they were doing just that. I hoped that they cared as much as Flynn's family did, hoped that they were crying over my death as I stood before them, alive.

"How brave these two young children are! Can I hear some applause for them?" Of course there was none. Only stunned silence, tears from Flynn's sisters and maybe the cries I heard from my own family weren't just my imagination. After the long seconds of silence, Elissa cleared her throat and stepped back, making room for us to shake hands.

I turned and put my hand out for him, the smile still shaking on my lips, but he didn't shake it in return. He didn't even look at me. I couldn't entirely blame him. Through the roaring of blood pumping and the pounding of heart in my ears, I barely heard Elissa speak into the microphone once more.

"May the odds be _ever_ in your favor."

* * *

**AN: Alrighty, so there's Chapter 2!**

**It's significantly longer than the last chapter, so sorry to everyone who's tribute was in the last chapter because I recognize that that was short as fuck okay, I can admit that. However! I am planning on trying to keep the chapters about this long for the rest of the story, hopefully. Maybe. **

**I do have a question though: Do you think I should keep it to just 2 districts for the first couple of chapters? I feel like that might be moving too slow for all of you. It will only be 6 chapters to get through the Reapings that way, but that is quite a lot, so do you think I should do more? Like 3 districts per chapter, maybe even 4? Or would that be too long? Send me your thoughts.**

**These new 4 characters are now on the website, which you can find right here: mountainsongstory . blogspot . com**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. AN

**A/N: Hello! This is another one of my ever-so-often reminders to please send in tributes! Presently, I'm unable to write up the next chapter and the next few after that because of lack of tributes! I will be going on a trip to Orlando, starting tomorrow, but I will still being paying very much attention to this story and any newly submitted tributes!**

**Of course, I can't go anywhere without my laptop so I may even write the new chapter over the vacation, assuming I get the tributes needed.**

**If you've already submitted, don't worry because you are _definitely_ allowed to submit more, if you like. Even if you already have one that's been submitted.**

**So thank you and please, please, please send in more so that we can sooner get to the ring - or at least the next chapter.**

**~ Lexie**


	5. ANother AN

**A/N:**

**Really sorry if you were expecting a new chapter, but this is just an author's note. And for once it's not to ask for characters! I mean, I still need some like lots, but that's not what this is about. **

**I just wanted to inform everyone that this story has a new site. Blogspot kind of sucks and I really don't enjoy using it so I've moved to something I'm more familiar with. Tumblr! And with a tumblr blog, I am definitely opening the ask and submission boxes. This blog will still have the list of characters, and it will also let you know about updates/hiatuses/progress and anything else.**

**Plus you are free to ask questions! Whether it be about me or the story or you even just want to chat (though I'd ask you go to my main blog for that), you're free to interact a lot more with me and the story. You can tell me what you like to happen, what you think will happen, suggest things. Just TALK about the story and I think that's a lot of fun. And tumblr looks nicer.**

**So.**

**Here you go:**

** mountainsongstory . tumblr **

**Thank you all!**

**~ Lexie**


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